I'm in the market for a touring bike and I'm leaning towards the saga because of the awesome paint job! What better reason is there to buy a bike? Soma bikes are very fine (I love my soma doublecross) and I'd have no hesitation in buying the saga. The LHT and the Saga are very similar in terms of frame quality. The one advantage that the LHT might have is that you can get a 26 inch wheel version even in a larger frame size. 26 inch wheels have some advantages (IMHO) over 700c for touring but not enough to outweigh the great saga paint scheme and the hideous LHT one. Surley needs to get a iife when it comes to color schemes for their bikes.